Audio/video commerce application architectural framework

• US 20050251683A1
• Filed: 06/14/2005
• Published: 11/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Original Assignee: Digimarc Corporation
• Inventors: Levy, Kenneth L., Rhoads, Geoffrey B., Hiatt, R. Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,601 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/16 Program or content traceability, e.g. by watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0021 Image watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00884 involving a watermark, i.e. a barely perceptible transformation of the original data which can nevertheless be recognised by an algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234327 by decomposing into layers, e.g. base layer and one or more enhancement layers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2407 Monitoring of transmitted content, e.g. distribution time, number of downloads arrangements for monitoring programmes for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/254 Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server arrangements for maintenance or administration in data networks H04L41/00; network services using third party service providers H04L67/53
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6332 directed to client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/835 Generation of protective data, e.g. certificates protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 : Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

The present invention provides an inventive architectural framework for use in audio/video commerce applications. In one embodiment, message types are used in different applications. These applications may be conceptualized as falling into three classes: 1) broadcast monitoring, copyright communication, copy/play control, file verification, and PC connected e-commerce; 2) forensic tracking, content monitoring, and asset management; and 3) set-top box connected e-commerce.

Claims

1. A method of tracking audio or video content comprising:

decoding a first forensic identifier in a digital watermark, the first forensic identifier being associated with a forensic database; and

decoding a second forensic identifier, the second forensic identifier being associated with a content user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second forensic identifier is associated with a content user through a rendering device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second forensic identifier is associated with a content user through a user identifier.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising communicating the first forensic identifier to a forensic database to access information related to the first forensic identifier.

5. A digital watermarking method comprising:

providing a plurality of digital watermark layers, where each of the layers comprises a separate message; and

embedding the plurality of digital watermark layers in content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the content comprises video content.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the content comprises audio content.

8. A broadcast monitoring system comprising:

digitally watermarking a content item, the digital watermark including a content identifier, a distributor identifier and a broadcaster identifier related to a broadcaster of the advertisement, wherein each of the identifiers is provided as a distinct digital watermark layer; and

associating the content identifier with at least some information related to the content item.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising decoding the content identifier layer to retrieve the content identifier, and communicating the content identifier to a database where the content identifier is associated with the at least some information related to the content item.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising decoding the distributor identifier layer to retrieve the distributor identifier, and using the distributor identifier to identify the distributor.

11. A method comprising:

obtaining audio or image content;

steganographically encoding auxiliary information in the audio or image content,

wherein the auxiliary information refers to an on-line resource that includes usage rights associated with the audio or image content; and

distributing the steganographically encoded audio or image content.